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The Good Girl's Guide to Murder
(Debutante Dropout #2)
by
Website designer and high society rebel Andrea Kendricks would never have gotten involved with ego-in-pumps life-style hostess Marilee Mabry if it weren't for the underhanded machinations of Andy's upper crust mama. But thanks to Mother Cissy, Andy's donning designer duds to attend a launch party at the intolerable domestic diva's new Dallas TV studio - and she's on hand
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Paperback, 353 pages
Published
February 1st 2005
by Avon Books
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Start your review of The Good Girl's Guide to Murder (Debutante Dropout, #2)

Dec 28, 2013
Margitte
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
fiction,
suspense,
relationships,
2013-releases,
satire,
edelweiss-galley,
family-sagas,
reviewed,
thriller,
mystery
Marilee Mabry got it made. Her skeletons in her closet was safe here in Dallas.She finally could afford the poshy house in the affluent Dallas high society. Finally her own tv show, The Sweet Life, which was anyone's dream to die for was , well, waiting to be launched... Finally another super star would be born.
Life did not come easy for Marilee. A fissure of excitement dashed up her spine, and she shivered, still amazed at how far she’d come. From a ramshackle chicken farm in the middle of ...more
Life did not come easy for Marilee. A fissure of excitement dashed up her spine, and she shivered, still amazed at how far she’d come. From a ramshackle chicken farm in the middle of ...more

I loved this book! The protagonist Andy Kendricks was so very likable and her dry sense of humor always gave me a good laugh. The book was mysterious and kept me reading - it was a hard one to put down! Even though I haven't read Blue Blood (the first book in the series) I had no troubles with the story line. I will definitely be reading Blue Blood next!

Kendall reminds me of that dude who killed a family of four and then claimed to have that disease of rich people who don’t know boundaries. I can’t feel bad for Kendricks because she’s such a hypocrite. If she wanted to do something good she’d use her name to bring awareness to charities. Instead, she acts like it’s a bad thing to own anything expensive. She could be doing actual work and donating part of it to the charities she likes. Instead, she accepts payment in the form of tokens, does not
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I really love murder mysteries although they do mostly follow the same structure where by; a murder is committed the detective interviews all the suspects, follows leads and then finally reveals who the murder is, possibly whilst in danger. But in The Good Girl's Guide to Murder I couldn't help but keep going back and forth between who I thought was doing the killing. This is what kept my attention throughout the entire book. Who did it?, was something I kept asking myself and I loved the twists
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I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first in the series, Blue Blood. The mystery was okay, but it was a very slow start and took over one-hundred pages for the book to actually get anywhere, and I began to get bored and wondered if I could continue. This could have been accomplished in maybe twenty or thirty pages. Luckily for the author, I persevered. Also some research and editing could have been done. For example, if Andy had ever been interested in animal rights, which she was, she would
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For those of us who enjoy both mysteries and puns, this book fits the bill. The humor of the first person narrator, Andrea Kendricks, is full of word play. The book is filled with the main character's dry wit, which I really enjoy. The plot is pretty good, with an unexpected twist at the end, but it is a little slow in the making. The actual murder doesn't even happen until late in the book. Still, the story keeps you interested, if not glued to each page.
Basically, Andy (which is what Andrea ...more
Basically, Andy (which is what Andrea ...more

I'm always up for a good mystery, and I'm also always up for a book that had a strong female protagonist that I can relate to. This book had both. Andy Kendricks is awesome! She's smart. She's sassy. She defies her mother's expectations for her. She flies into a jealous rage at her boyfriend at one point. She's compassionate, and of course, she solves the mystery. On top of that the mystery is good. Marilee Marby is launching a new Martha Stewart-esque show, but strange things keep happening on
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Andy Kendricks was born with a silver spoon in her mouth but she spit it out as soon as could. She didn't reject her life, but she wanted to be more than a charity hostess. She's a web designer for non-profits. But when her mother asks her to help her best friend, Andy can't say no. The friend, Marilee Mabry, has hit it big as the next Martha Stewart but behind the scenes she is self-involved and narcissistic. Her 18 year old daughter desperately wants her mother's attention but doesn't plan on
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This was a nice read. A good mystery featuring Andy, the debutante dropout. Marilee Mabry was a nasty, difficult woman who ran her own cooking show and pretty much ignored her daughter Kendall. The poor young woman had been to numerous psychiatrists, taken all kinds of medication, but none of it did anything to make her feel better. She was unloved and unwanted. Even so, she kept hoping her mother would change. So when her mother is murdered, she turns to the only person she trusts, Andy, who
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The second of the Debutante Dropout series. A good light mystery! Andrea Kendricks is a website designer and amatuer slueth. Her mom is high society in Dallas and Andrea is not into that scene at all in fact she refused to make her debut several years ago and even tho she has a trust fund she chooses to work to support herself. This adventure involves Andrea designing a website for a TV domestic diva as a favor to her mother. And the fireworks begin leading to all sorts of unhappy endings for
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Susan McBride's writing improved from Blue Bloods. I bought the first two books of the Debutante Dropout Mysteries through Kindle Daily Deals. The pacing and structure improved by having Andy observe events rather than trying to discover a murder from the beginning of the book. McBride still loves to describe every details, and sometimes you feel like she is writing a movie script story boarding every scene. Andy Kendricks grew on me but not enough for me to continue reading the series.

Another fluffy mystery by one of my new favorite authors. Not a whole ton of character development in this one, which kind of surprised me given Andy’s relationship with Malone, but perhaps that’s coming up next. Whatever the case, it was refreshing to have a mystery that didn’t have a side story about falling in love. Andy was already taken, so the focus really got to be more on the mystery itself. While fairly predictable this time around, it still was an enjoyable read.

Andy finds herself developing the website for the next Martha Stewart. However, strange accidents are befalling the egoistical star. Who has it in for her? The first quarter of the book is very slow, but once the story picks up and action and characters are great.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

Nowhere near as good as the first book. Many of the former reviewers say it took around 100 pages to get into the mystery, but I honestly think it took more like 250 pages to get to the actual mystery (the book is only 350 pages). So I'm giving Susan McBride a break for a while and hopefully the next in the series is better.

Andy Kendricks finds herself involved with Marilee Mabry courtesy of her mom. Marilee Mabry is a lifestyle hostess (think Martha Stewart) who is very demanding. At the launch party of Marilee's new studio, things get out of control and a fire breaks out. Andy saves Marilee's daughter and then gets very involved in the Mabry family. Lots of twists and turns. Fast and easy read.

Twenty one chapters to expllain the life of the anti deutante attitude of Andrea Kendricks, trying to build characters!!! Much to Much of the yak yak before a real murder occurs at the end of chapter 21... the book then ends in 22 ehhhhh! So glad this was one of my quarter yard sale finds and at that price -- a no go.

A great little cozy mystery set in Texas. This is book two and very readable without reading book 1. Andrea paints and designs web sires much to the disappointment of her high society mother, Cissy. As Andrea works to solve the murder of her mother's friend, they agree to work together. A great read and I'm looking forward to more by Ms. McBride.

I loved the first book in this series, Blue Blood, but the next two just kind of lagged along. It was to the point where I just wanted it to end already. I still have the two most recent books to read but I think I'm going to be putting them off for a while, until I'm in the mood for an excruciating slow moving plot with underdeveloped characters.

an easy, clean murder mystery.
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Susan McBride is the USA Today Bestselling author of Blue Blood and five more award-winning Debutante Dropout Mysteries from HarperCollins, including The Good Girl's Guide To Murder, The Lone Star Lonely Hearts Club, Night Of The Living Deb, Too Pretty To Die, and Say Yes to the Death. Susan has a second bestselling series with HC/Avon, the River Road Mysteries, that include To Helen Back, Mad as
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Debutante Dropout
(6 books)
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